Blowpipe



Jan. 29, 1935. w. c. BUCKNAM BLOWPIFE Filed April 18, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 29, 1935. w. c. BUCKNAM BLOWPIPE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed April 18, 1932 INVENTOR}.

am, ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 29, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BLOWPIPE Worthy C.Bucknam, Miami, Fla., assignor to Oxweld Acetylene Company, acorporationof West Virginia Application April 18, 1932, Serial No. 605,885

'7 Claims. (Cl. 158 -27-4) This invention pertains to blowpipes and morehose. connectionand gas control portion -and-in-,, specifically -toimprovements therein whereby providing a'joint or coupling by means ofwhich. they may be constructed more cheaply and couseveralfiame-formingiunitsmay be successively pled'toa source of supply morequickly; attached to the hose connection and gas control 5-,,Heretofore, it hasbeen common practice to unit'without'th'e-useofawrench or'other'special 5 provide anoxy-gas blowpipe withtwo joints ortool. unions by which it could be coupledto. a hose The rear'portion ofthe blowpipeishown'in supplying fuel-gas and a hose'supplying oxygen.the drawings, whichweshall henceforth-callathe Each blowpipe wasalsoprovided with valves for dual hoseconnection unit, maycomprise a cast---controlling? thevolume of fuel gas and oxygen ing'jlO of'any suitablemetal such asbrass'zorylO used-thereby; When it became desirable, duringbronze having a control valve 11 extendings'tothe a-zmetarworkingoperation, to change from one rear thereof which is'p'rovided-with athreaded, blowpipe3to another itwas customary to extinmember 12 adaptedfor beingcoupled-to ah'ose" guish-the blowpipe-flame-by closing thecontrol line for supplying fuelgassuchas'acetylene, and: valvesand-thengo back to the sourcerof supply a control valve 13 alsoextendingtothe rear 15 and-shut ofithe fuel gas and oxygen from thethereof and provided with a threaded member-14*! hose-lines. The hoselines were then discon-r adapted for being coupled toa hoseline-forsuplnected from oneblowpipeby means of a-wrench ply oxygen.- Anopening or conduit" 15" in'r the-' or other manually operable tool andconnected casting 10 is adapted for-conducting the acetylene" 20,,tothe-other blowpipe by the same means. The through the .dual hoseconnection" unit, and a fuel gas and oxygenrwere' then turned back into1 similar opening or conduit'lfi'is adapted for'con the hose lines-atthesource of supply, andtheducting the oxygenthroughthe'dualhosecon controlvalvesof the blowpipe opened to provide nection unit. The control'valves'11 and 13 may gas'fo-r the new flame. This was a very slow-op be of anysuitable type such as ordinarily used:

;; eration. which wasted much of the operators to control the fuelgas'and oxygensuppliedto a 25,

valuable time and, furthermorawith this-blowblowpipe, and the hoseconnection members 12* pipe construction the hose connection. union=andand '14 may also be'of any typeisuitableifor the control valves: areduplicated for each blowpipe purpose. which is also an unnecessarywaste. i Theifront portion of the blowpipe, which" we 3Q; Therefore, oneobjectofthislinvention is to shall henceforth'call. the i fiameformin'g" unit;"

provide aljoint between-the. rear portionrof. a may comprise atip' 1'7coupled'to a casting-18 by blowpipe comprising thehose-connection-unions a removable gland nut 19. The casting 18 isandcontrol valves, andthe front connection and provided with a mixingchamber 20 having: an control portion, and sothe hose-connection andinjector nozzle 2lthreadedtherein and 'a plug22 35, control portion neednot beduplicated for" each closing the rear end of 'said'chamber.Another blowpipe. Another object of .thisinvention is to casting 23'forms the rear'ofthe flame-forming provide a joint that may becoupledland uncouunit and this casting is joined to the casting '18 Plmanually without. the use of wrenches or by two pipes or tubes 24 and25for conducting other-tools Other aims, objects, and vnovel rfeaiuel'gasand" oxygen respectively and a surround tures willbeapparentfromitheriollowingspecifiing tub'e 26'forming a h'andl'efortheblowpipe: 4Q

cation together, with. the'accompanying draw- A-passage 2'7 inthecasting 18' conducts fuel gas ings, iii-which: r I from the 'pipe 25to the mixingchamber', and a Fig 1, longitudinal ,SGCtiOILOf a blowpipepassage 28" conducts oxygen from the pipe 24' embodying my invention; tothe mixing chamber; The flame-'iorminglunit' 5 F 2J8 fibottomaview 0fTearend f t e shown and described hereinis'simplyone'of many p p Shownin Fig; forms adapted for use with thedualrhose connec- '3 511'v View Ofcoupling. c o t e tion'unit and the invention isnot' limited to thisfiamew r unit; n particular form but includes those adapted. for' Fig..4 is aview of the coupling face of the dual forming either ametalwelding or a metal cutting;

hose connectionlunit, and flame. In fact-partofthe utility of theinvention Fig;.5,shows. aihose connectionunit and three resides in the;construction and arrangement of 1 interchangeable flame-forming unitsadapted for the mechanism whereby ablow-pipe of 'one kindbeingnoupledthereto. I may be quickly removed from the-dual 'hose=-con+Broadly, therinvention comprisesseparating nection unit and. replaceddoyanotherrblowp-ipe thefiameeformingportion ofla blowpipe fromvthe of adifierentkindwithout unnecessaryllosstof cooperating with the Also, oneof the coupling faces may be of a re-- silient material or a resilientmaterial such as a gasket may be clamped between the coupling faces.

The rear end of the casting 23 of the flameforming unit may form oneofthe coupling faces and the front end of the casting 10 of the dual hoseconnection unit may form the other. The flame-forming unit coupling facemay be provided with two openings 29 and 30 which communicate with thetubes 24 and 25 respectively, and

a radial slot 31 extending from the edge of the coupling face to a pointhalf its width beyond the center. While this slotactually extends beyondthe center of the coupling face it is usually considered as terminatingat the center because a round member is at the center of the couplingface when at the inner end of the slot so, henceforth, the slot will beconsidered asterminating at the center of the coupling face. The slot 31may be of any form having an enlarged inner portion such as a dovetailor, as shown in the drawings, a T-slot. While itmay extend "clear acrossthe coupling faceithas the advantage of serving as-a stop for the memberfitting therein when it terminatesat approximately'the center. The frontend of the casting 10 of the dual hose connection 'unit may form theother cou pling face. This face may be plain or it may be provided witha recess having a gasket 32therein. This coupling face may also have two'openings 33 and 34 therein which communicate with the passages 15 and16 respectively. The dual hose connection unit may also have an axialopening extending inward from the coupling face with a reciprocable bolt35 therein having a head 36 -E'protruding from the coupling face and atransverse opening 37 within the dual hose connection unit. Threaded ina lateral opening in the casting 10 is a screw 38 having a conical orpointed inner end 39 projecting into the transverse opening 37 in thebolt 35 by which it may be drawn into the casting 10'when the screw 38is manually rotated by means of a handle or ring 40 secured to the outerend thereof. 41 may be confined in a partially compressed -i' conditionbetween-the inner end of the bolt 35 and the bottom of the recess inwhich it is held. This spring 41tends to force the bolt 35 outward asthe screw 38 is withdrawn from the transverse opening 37 in the bolt 35,and a screw 42 threaded in a'transverse opening in the casting 10 intheside opposite from that of the screw 38 also enters the transverseopening 3'7 in the bolt 35 and prevents the spring 41 from forcing thebolt 35 out of the casting 10 when the conical point 39 of the screw 38is entirely withdrawn from the transverse opening 3'7. A screw 43threaded into the casting 10 and'protruding from the coupling face isadapted for bolt 35 to relatively position the flame-forming unit andthe dual hose connection unit so the openings 29 and 30 in one unitregister with the openings 33 and 34 in the other. The slot 31 and thebolt 35 with its operating means form male and femaleinterlockingelements onmeans by which the units may be A coiled spring entering theT-slot 31 and clamped together and it is understood that thisinterlocking means may be arranged and operated differently, and theelements on one unit may be interchanged with those on the other.

When the flame-forming unit and the dual hose connection unit arecoupled together the blowpipe may be operated in the same conventionalmanner as blowpipes known heretofore. g The threaded members 12 and 14may be respectively coupled to hose lines supplying fuel gas and oxygenand then by opening the control valves 11 and 13 fuel gas may enter andfiow through the passage 15, pipe 25, and opening 27 to the mixingchamber 20 where it is joined by oxygen entering coupled from the dualhose connection unit by loosening the screw 38 and then the units may beseparated by moving one in a lateral direction withrespect' to the otherthereby sliding the head 36 of the bolt 35-outof the slot 31. The secondflame-forming unit may then be joined to the dual hose connection unitby sliding its bolt head 36 in the slot 31. The head of the screw 43entering the slot 31 after the bolt head 36 thereby relativelypositioning the units so their respective gas orifices are in alignmentwhen the bolt head 36 strikes the inner end of the slot 31. With theunits in this position they may be coupled by tightening the screw 38.The operation of changing flame-forming units is very quick and simpleand may be performed in from"15 to20 seconds without the aid of wrenchesor' other tools. claims, the expression flame-forming unit includes notonly the tip of the welding or cutting device but also the gas mixingchamber. 7

Various alterations, modifications, and substitutions, may be made inthe'mechanism with out departing from the spirit of the invention orsacrificing any of the rights thereunder.

It will be understood that in the appended This is a continuationin-part of my application" flame-forming unit to form a complete rigidblowpipe structure.

2. The combination of a gas control unit including means for controllingthe delivery of gas therefrom; a flame-forming unit having a tip and ahandle; and readily-detachable means for rigidly coupling said gascontrol unit to said flame-forming unit to form a complete rigid blowp p3. In combination, a gas control unit comprising means for coupling saidunit to gas supply means and means for controlling the delivery of gasfrom said unit; a flame-forming unit comprising a tip, a handle and agas mixer; and means for detachably and rigidly coupling said gascontrol unit to said flame-forming unit to provide a rigid blowpipestructure.

4. In combination, a flame-forming unit comsaid handle; a-gas controlunit having aplurality of gas passages and valves severally controllingsaid passages; and means so constructed and arranged that said gascontrol unit may be separably but rigidly coupled to the other end ofsaid handle to provide a complete and rigid blowpipe structure.

5. In combination, a flame-forming unit comprising a handle, a tipremovably secured to one end of said handle, and a mixing chambercommunicating with said tip and provided with gas inlets; a gas controlunit having a plurality of gas passages severally adapted to delivergases to said inlets and also carrying valves severally controlling saidpassages; and coupling means so constructed and arranged that said gascontrol unit may be separably but rigidly secured to the other end ofsaid handle to deliver gases to said inlets and to provide a completeand rigid blowpipe structure.

6. In a blowpipe, a flame-forming unit having a tip and a handleprovided with gas inlets and coupling means at its rear end; adetachable coupling member coacting with said coupling means on saidhandle to provide a rigid blovvpipe structure, said coupling memberhaving gas passages therethrough, one end of each of said gas passagesbeing adapted to be connected to a hose line and the other ends of saidgas passages severally registering with said gas inlets; and valve meanscarried by said coupling member for controlling said gas passages.

7. In a blowpipe, a gas control unit and a flameforming unit having atip, a handle and gas inlet passages in said handle, said gas controlunit having gas passages therethrough, one end of each of said passagesbeing adapted tobe connected to a hose line and the other ends of saidpassages severally registering with the gas inlet passages in saidflame-forming unit; valves carried by said gas control unit forseverally controlling said gas passages therethrough; and interfittingcoupling devices on said gas control unit and at the rear end of thehandle of said flame-forming unit, said coupling devices being coactiveto provide a rigid structure and to quickly interengage and disengagesaid gas control unit and said flame-forming unit, the constructionbeing of such a character that gas supplied through such hose lines maybe shut off by said valves and said flame-forming unit may bedisconnected from said gas control unit without losing the gas in suchhose lines, without shutting off the gas at the source of gas supply,and without admitting air into such hose lines.

WORTHY C. BUCKNAM.

